by Heather R. Darsie, J. D. Anna of Cleves died in July 1557, having reached her forty-second birthday weeks before. Curiously, in 1558, a woman who possessed Anna’s signet ring showed up at the court of Anna’s nephew, John Frederick the Middle. She had an interesting story for the young man, Who was this woman? Was she an illegitimate half-sister of Anna’s, or a cousin? … Continue reading The False Anna of Cleves
by Heather R. Darsie, J. D. Sybylla of Cleves, Anna of Cleves’ elder sister, married into the powerful ruling Saxon family. Several members of the family, all prince-electors and including Sybylla’s husband Johann Friedrich, protected Martin Luther. In particular, Sybylla’s father-in-law John the Steadfast, embraced Lutheranism and did not avoid rubbing it in the Holy Roman Emperor’s face. From the beginning, the Electors of Saxony … Continue reading Martin Luther and the House of Saxony
by Heather R. Darsie On 13 June 1525, forty-one-year-old Martin Luther married twenty-six-year old Katharina von Bora. Katharina was given to the Church at a young age. By her early twenties, she and several other nuns in the Marienthron convent were familiar with Luther’s teachings and wished to practice them. They became fed up with religious life, and wanted to leave the convent. Katharina von … Continue reading The Scandalous Marriage of Katharina von Bora and Martin Luther
Maidens and Manuscripts: Taking a fresh look at people and events from 1347 to 1625, with a focus on women and illuminated manuscripts 